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Nostalgia for optimism is latent radicalism and resistance. So I think the days of "surveillance capitalism", or more generally the abuses of benevolent techno

Nostalgia for optimism is latent radicalism and resistance. So I think the days of "surveillance capitalism", or more generally the abuses of benevolent technology by the few against the many, are numbered. But there's a long way to go from here to there. And it will take more than posting starry-eyed nostalgia.

BirAdam 3y ago
Yeah, especially when Vannevar Bush also founded Raytheon thereby helping to forever entrench and fortify the military industrial complex in the USA. Optimism is a good and powerful thing but it must always be tempered with reason.
- nonrandomstring 3y ago
  It's an interesting bind isn't it? Which is better? To live in times of hawkish fervour, with the pointy side of technology facing some external foe. Or to live in "times of peace" when the bored, paranoid and over-zealous folks who are "good with tools" turn upon their fellows to exploit and control. Personally I am more comfortable when I can't see the words "This side towards enemy". Makes one think the best thing that could happen to humanity is facing some hostile extra-terrestrial force. But William James already explored that in the "Moral Equivalent of War" [0]. We just can't seem to switch to seeing things like climate change, or AI-driven MegaTech as an enemy, because we look at it, and we see us [1]. [0] https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Moral-Equivalent-of-War https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Moral-Equivalent-of-War, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_Equivalent_of_War_speech https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_Equivalent_of_War_speech [1] https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walt_Kelly https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walt_Kelly
- jhbadger 3y ago
  He was also the first head of the NSF (the American National Science Foundation, a government organization that funds much of the research that goes on in universities). Vannevar Bush did a lot in both the public and private sectors.

BirAdam 3y ago

Yeah, especially when Vannevar Bush also founded Raytheon thereby helping to forever entrench and fortify the military industrial complex in the USA. Optimism is a good and powerful thing but it must always be tempered with reason.

nonrandomstring 3y ago
It's an interesting bind isn't it? Which is better? To live in times of hawkish fervour, with the pointy side of technology facing some external foe. Or to live in "times of peace" when the bored, paranoid and over-zealous folks who are "good with tools" turn upon their fellows to exploit and control. Personally I am more comfortable when I can't see the words "This side towards enemy". Makes one think the best thing that could happen to humanity is facing some hostile extra-terrestrial force. But William James already explored that in the "Moral Equivalent of War" [0]. We just can't seem to switch to seeing things like climate change, or AI-driven MegaTech as an enemy, because we look at it, and we see us [1]. [0] https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Moral-Equivalent-of-War https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Moral-Equivalent-of-War, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_Equivalent_of_War_speech https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_Equivalent_of_War_speech [1] https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walt_Kelly https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walt_Kelly
jhbadger 3y ago
He was also the first head of the NSF (the American National Science Foundation, a government organization that funds much of the research that goes on in universities). Vannevar Bush did a lot in both the public and private sectors.